EUROPEAN wagon owners’ groups have reacted angrily to the introduction of new regulations for wagons operating in Switzerland. The International Union of Wagon Keepers (UIP) describes the new requirements issued last week as “shocking,” warning that they could prompt “a meltdown in European rail freight traffic.”
The Federal Office of Transport (FOT) confirmed on September 11 that it was issuing new regulations intended to improve rail freight safety in Switzerland. They include requirements for minimum wheel diameters, systematic and more frequent maintenance, and optimised wagon inspection.
The measures are a response to recommendations of a report by the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (STSB) into a derailment in the Gotthard Base Tunnel on August 10 2023, which resulted in a near-13-month closure of the world’s longest railway tunnel and major disruption to trans-Alpine rail traffic.
The accident was caused by a broken wheel disc on one of the wagons. The new regulations take effect immediately and operators using the Swiss network along with fleet owners and maintenance providers have until the end of this year to comply.
“Wrong and dangerous”
Swiss wagon owning association VAP says that while safety is its first priority, it is wrong and dangerous to suggest that absolute safety is possible in rail operations. It says the additional costs of complying with the new FOT regulations is “enormous” for wagon keepers. German group VPI estimates that the additional costs could add up to “hundreds of millions annually”.
VAP also states that it is not clear to wagon owners or entities in charge of maintenance (ECM) how they are supposed to implement these measures in such a short period of time, with UIP describing the requirement for full implementation by December 31 as “reckless.” VAP says it could prompt a shift in freight traffic from rail to road, while Swiss shippers have condemned the bottlenecks in supply chains that are expected to result from the new measures, threatening the country’s security of supply.
“In the short term, economic disruption is threatened, and in the medium term, the competitiveness of the entire rail freight transport system will be massively reduced,” VAP says.
“The measures will massively impede the free use of freight wagons and entail a huge loss of flexibility in international freight transport both for import/export and for transit,” UIP says.
Full compliance
UIP says the STSB investigation confirmed that wagon keepers and ECMs had “fully complied with their maintenance obligations in the lead up to the accident.” It says the report identified areas for action, not only for wagon keepers but also for freight operators and the infrastructure manager, and adds that operational and infrastructure failings must be addressed with the same urgency as fleet maintenance.
“We deplore a one-sided view that basically relieves the other rail system actors of their duties and does not consider safety investment on the side of operations and infrastructure,” UIP says.
“Safety obligations do not stop once the train is on the tracks. It is unacceptable that operators keep scaling back their technical on-site inspections and cutting investment in staff education, especially in a system that crucially depends on rigorous controls before, during, and after train operations.”
Wider impact
FOT’s call for its regulations to be more broadly adopted across Europe has also been roundly criticised. VPI says FOT is ignoring the findings of the Joint Network Secretariat (JNS). established by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), on mitigating the risk of broken wheels, which have been available since 2024. “Instead of respecting these procedures, Switzerland has imposed an isolated solution that jeopardises interoperability,” VPI says.
"Safety is our top priority, but it must not be a matter for national unilateral action," says VPI chairman, Malte Lawrenz, who says that only within a European framework can practical and effective measures be developed that ensure both safety and interoperability. "We need European unity here, not isolated solutions.”
Alberto Mazzola, director general of the Community of European Railways and Infrastructure Companies (CER), told IRJ that it was “concerned about the safety and business implications of the new regulations,” adding that CER was investigating precisely how many wagons will be impacted and the associated costs. UIP also told IRJ that it is conducting a similar assessment.
